In Chains
by MightBeAWizard
Summary: Driven and ambitious, Laura Winters knows what she wants in life, and that is a successful and long career working in the political world of Washington D.C. However, this all changes when she volunteers to house sit for her aunt and learns that the creatures that her aunt has been studying for her book might not be so mythical after all.
1. Chapter 1

Laura brushed her dark hair out of her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh as she struggled with the last of her many large suitcases. The matching, navy and cream pinstripe bags lay scattered in the entryway of the quaint, Victorian cottage that was to be her home for the next two weeks while her Aunt Caroline went on vacation in India. When her aunt had called her to ask her to house sit, Laura was a bit ashamed at just how readily and excitedly she had accepted. It would be good, she had decided, to take a break from her hectic life and career. Not that she didn't love what she did, of course, but even the most devoted of people need a break every now and then.

At just twenty three, Laura was one of the youngest legal and legislative advisors to the now US Senator Chris Murray. She had worked on his campaign when he had run for the House when she was eighteen, and had lent her support again at his most recent bid for the Senate. Once elected, he had offered her a position in his office. Having just graduated law school with a mountain of student loans, she had been excited to say the least. That and it had been her dream job. She had dreamed about working on the Hill and living in Washington DC ever since she was a freshman political science major. And her five months of working had not disappointed so far.

Laura looked around at the decorations that hung on the faded floral wall paper of the entry way. It was a strange fusion of old and new, with graceful gilt framed portraits of simpering Victorian women hanging among abstract paintings. In some odd sort of way, it worked. Or, it at least fit her aunt's eccentric personality. Aunt Caroline was the closest thing that their family had to a black sheep. Instead of marrying a son of one of the best families in town, she had escaped from the small, sleepy southern town to the bustling, bright lights of New York City. She worked her way through college and earned a degree in English. And now, And Caroline Jones was a respected journalist and novelist who traveled all over the world.

Ever since she was a little girl, Laura had always admired Aunt Caroline. It was Aunt Caroline who had inspired Laura to aim for her alma mater in New York City rather than the mediocre state school that everyone from her tiny high school went too. Her parents hadn't been happy, to say the least, either when Laura had broken up with her high school sweetheart, Michael Walter. Laura could still remember the look on her mother's face when she told them the news.

"But you're throwing away your future!" Her mother had protested, while her father looked on with his customary steely and disapproving stare.

She might have been throwing away the future that her family had planned for her, but she was building a better and brighter future that she had planned for herself.

Laura carefully maneuvered around the neatly stacked piles of books and manuscripts that lined the hallway. Organized chaos was the best way to describe her aunt's home. Once she reached the stairs, she made her way up the creaky steps, entering the first door on the left. Inside, she found a guest bedroom with cream and olive striped wallpaper and delicate, little pink roses swirling throughout. A large, four poster bed dominated most of the room, with a can't and mirror sitting opposite of it.

She crossed the room, pushing back the lace curtain that covered the window. Outside, the sun had already set, and the small, neat backyard of the house was shrouded in darkness. Beyond the With no small effort on her part, Laura struggled to open the window. The crisp, summer air gently made the curtains dance. Laura plopped down onto the bed, running her hand over the soft, lace coverlet. She kicked off her heels, laying back onto the bed. Within minutes, she was asleep.

* * *

Aganir Etu'An was facing one of the biggest challenges of his reign-finding a bride. The only girl of note in the small village that surrounded his land had been taken by the goblin king last year. It had been a frustrating oversight on Aganir's part, the goblin king had snatched her up before Aganir could claim her, and he would sooner marry a goblin than one of the unremarkable girls that filled the village. What made matters worse was that the goblin king hadn't even taken the girl as his own wife. Instead, he had married her off to a member of his guard. It was an insult and taunt from Marak. Relations between the two and their people had been even tenser since the event. Still, Aganir could not help but feel sorrow for the pretty girl with the golden hair from the village who was now no doubt afraid and suffering down in the dank and dark goblin caves.

Aganir knew that he could not just settle for any woman when it came to finding a bride. He did not want a brainless, empty headed woman as companion for the rest of his days. He wanted a woman who would come to love and understand his people just as his mother had, and who would not only be his wife and lover, but also his closest companion and advisor. It was perhaps his mother who had influenced these thoughts in him. His mother had been a beautiful and graceful woman, with a fiery personality that had captured his father's heart from the moment that he had laid eyes on her. Aganir's parents marriage had not always been the smoothest, with the pair getting in many an argument on account of both of their stubborn personalities, but one could never deny that the two had not loved each other ardently. This was what Aganir wanted in a marriage.

He let out a frustrated sigh, with the current state of prospects in the village, he did not think such a marriage possible. But his advisors were quickly growing tired of their king's pickiness and reluctance to marry. He was nearing thirty-five now, close to the time when his magic would fully mature and he would be able to have a son. Aganir knew that they were right, he would have to pick a bride, and soon.

"Aganir!"

Aganir looked up from his seat on a fallen tree, where he had been moodily lost in his thoughts for most of the evenings. Not even the sight of his elves dancing before him had been enough to pull him out of his glum mood. Enir, one of the guards on duty tonight and also a childhood best friend of the king, stood in front of him, his eyes bright with excitement.

"A girl! There's a new girl in the village!"

Because of past disappointments from such news, Aganir merely regarded his friend calmly. "Where is she staying?"

"In the house by the southern border. She looks similar to the woman that lives there, she must be a relative."

Aganir sighed, gracefully rising to his feet. "I suppose I had best go and see."

Enir was disappointed in his friend's reaction. He had hoped that the news of the girl's arrival might break Aganir out of the depression he had been in since he had lost his prospective bride last year. Perhaps if his friend finally found a worthy bride to bring home and make a king's wife, the old fun and witty Aganir that he knew would come back. He only prayed that this girl proved herself worthy.

Despite his earlier behavior, Aganir could not help the excitement and hope that filled him as he grew closer to where the girl was. Perhaps she would be the one who he would finally be satisfied enough to call wife. Once he reached the small house that sat on the outskirts of the village, he closed his eyes, calling upon his magic to ensure that all the inhabitants of the house were asleep. His magic also told him that the girl was in one of the rooms upstairs. He let out a smile, quickly changing himself into a bird and alighting upon the sill of the open window. He entered the room, quickly changing back into his normal form. The lights of the room hurt his sensitive eyes, and he pointed towards one of the lamps in the rooms, using his magic to return the room to darkness.

His gaze moved over to the bed, and he nearly stopped in his tracks. On the bed lay one of the most beautiful humans that he had ever laid eyes on. Her dark curls lay fanned out in a halo around her head, and her skin was smooth and tanned. She wore a white collared shirt and a pair of slim, dark pants. Her feet were bare but he spotted a pair of odd, human shoes lined up neatly by the bedside. He pictured how much more beautiful she would look in the dress of his people, with flowers braided in her hair.

He could not help but push a silky strand of that black hair from her face, running his fingers gently down her cheek and across her jawline. He pulled his hand back. Yes, she was beautiful, but he could not let himself become attached so quickly. He had to be sure that she would be a good companion as well.  
Looking around the room, he spied a small, bag on the little table beside the bed. He dug around in it, looking for something that would give him some more information about the girl. He pulled out a small, plastic card, which had a picture of her in one corner, and a small blurb of information about her in the other. Her name was Laura Winters, she was twenty three years old, and she was from America. An American then, he thought, looking down at the small picture. Her blue eyes and smile were warm. It would be hard, he concluded, not to get attached to her.

He pulled out another small, plastic card from the bag. This one looked similar to the other one, but under her picture the words UNITED STATES SENATE: LAURA ANNE WINTERS: JUNIOR LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT, were stamped in bold, block letters. Further searching revealed two books, each of them having something to do with politics and history. Aganir moved over to the desk in the room, finding a large, black folder sitting on the surface. Opening it up, the first thing that he laid eyes on seemed to be some sort of human law document. A law regarding the funding of national parks, he read. As he flipped through the thick packet, he noticed the same, neat handwriting throughout the margins, in addition to the various scratches throughout words and arrows and other symbols.

He looked back over at Laura on the bed, a soft smile beginning to curve his lips. She might be a suitable match after all. Moving over to the bed, he laid his hand over her forehead, closing his eyes and muttering the familiar words to a protection spell. He had finally found his bride, and he was not going to let her get away.


	2. Chapter 2

Laura let out a soft sigh as she woke up, stretching her arms above her head. She felt as though she had had the best rest that she had had in years, though the lumpy bed in her apartment back home did make a restful night of sleep difficult. With a frown, she noticed that she was still in her clothes from yesterday. The white, button up shirt that had been freshly ironed yesterday was a mass of wrinkles and her black slacks were just as creased. She sighed, stretching her legs as she rose to her feet.

Looking at the clock which hung on the wall, she nearly had a panic attack. It was already three in the afternoon! She had slept for almost a full eighteen hours! Hurriedly, she riffled through her bags for her shower things. After taking the fastest shower of her life, she padded back to her room, wrapped in a warm and fuzzy towel, her hair hanging in a wet sheath behind her.

She crossed over to where her suitcases lay in a neat pile in the corner. She quickly picked out a pair of dark skinny jeans and a light weight, white blouse. She couldn't resist putting on her favorite pair of nude heels. If there was one thing Laura loved just as much as her job on the Hill, it was shoes. She thought about her small collection of various colors and styles of heels that were lined up neatly underneath the rack of clothes in her bedroom back home. Well, not really a bedroom. Because of DC's insane costs of living, Laura could barely afford to live in a studio apartment on an okay side of town.

Sighing at the sight of her hair, which was quickly beginning to frizz, she pulled it up into a high ponytail. Deciding that there was no time for makeup, she quickly packed her tote bag with her wallet, laptop, and folder which contained all of the bills that Senator Murray had on his desk at the time. She might have been on a break from DC, but that did not mean that she was on a break from her job. Senator Murray was currently championing a few bills in Congress that were not so popular with the more conservative members, and his office was currently putting all their energy into making sure that the bills were at least heard.

She shook her head, suppressing a giggle at the thought of how her family back home would react if they knew that she was helping to push the "liberal agenda" in congress. They already hadn't been pleased when she told them that she was taking a job in Senator Murray's office, who was one of the most liberal members of congress. Of course, they hadn't really been happy that she was pursuing a career in DC, still very much single. In her hometown, most of her classmates from high school were already married, many of them with a couple of kids all ready. While Laura knew that there was nothing wrong with this way of life, she also knew that she would have never been happy to be stuck there for the rest of her life, serving as a member of the PTA or some other small town committee that all mothers were expected to take part in. She lived for the thrill and high energy that DC and her job gave her. Besides, she had plenty of time to think about marriage and children down the road.

Remembering her aunt's recommendation of a cozy bookstore/coffee house in town, Laura used her cell to call for a cab. She was used to walking everywhere in DC or taking the subway, but even she knew that walking was not an option here. Her aunt's little cottage was on the outskirts of the village, even if only a couple of miles, she wasn't stupid enough to walk that distance herself. The cab was there within minutes, though Laura told herself that she shouldn't be so surprised, the town wasn't that big. She smiled at the cab driver as she entered the car. He was a kindly old man, the exact stereotypical sort you would see on TV.

"Good afternoon, miss." He said in greeting. "Where to?"

She quickly gave him the name of the coffee shop, reading it from the crumpled slip of paper which she had written it on when her aunt had recommended the place to her over the phone.

"It isn't often we get visitors here." The man said, after they had been driving for a few moments.

"I'm house sitting for my aunt," Laura explained.

"Ah, you must be Miss Jones's niece then." He replied. "I'm Henry, we go to the same book club meetings," he said as an explanation.

Laura couldn't help but feel that this was a little bit humorous. She pictured the "book clubs" back in her hometown in Texas where the women pretended to read novels but really just gossiped the entire time. She should know, as she would always sit on the stairs and eavesdrop when her mother would host the meetings at their house.

"Yes, I'm Laura." She said.

"You're aunt speaks a lot about you," Henry said.

A long stretch of silence filled the air between them before Laura spoke again.

"You said that you don't get a lot of visitors here? That's surprising because this area is so pretty."

Indeed, the tree lined pebble road that they were currently driving on seemed like something out of a painting. And, Laura knew that only a short distance away there was a beautiful lake that her Aunt had talked about.

"Aye," Mr. Richardson said. "It's on account of the strange things that sometimes happen here."

"Strange?"

"Well, there are the legends that surround this area of goblins and elves that steal away pretty young ladies."  
Laura nodded. Her aunt had moved to this area for inspiration for her next novel. Apparently Aunt Caroline had been researching the legends and folktales of this area quite extensively. While her aunt usually told her everything, she had been particularly secretive about the plot of this newest novel.

"My aunt was researching the legends for her next book."

"Yes, she cornered me many a time for an explanation of them. Not many people like to talk about them, they think it brings bad luck. Many in town won't let their daughters out alone at night still."

Laura let out a laugh. "That seems a bit superstitious to me."

Henry laughed with her. "The folks around here do seem to be behind on the times. But there have been a few disappearances that fuel that. Only last year, a girl from the village went missing."

Laura frowned. "How old was she?"

"She was only eighteen, poor girl. She was due to leave for university in the next month to study to become a doctor. Her parents were devastated. Last I heard, they moved out of the area to get away."

Laura couldn't help but shiver. Even in the bright and safe light of day, she couldn't help but feel a strange feeling in her gut. She shook her head, she didn't believe in fairy tales.

"But don't you let it scare you off. It's all a load of superstitious crap. Oh, looks like we're here!"

Laura hadn't even realized that they had come to a stop. She managed a smile, thanked him, and paid him the fare along with a generous tip. Tossing her tote bag onto her shoulder, she stepped out of the cab and looked at the street around her. A line of neat, cute little storefronts greeted her. The picturesque square that she stood in seemed to be something out of a movie. Hollow Hill was the epitome of a quaint, little English town.

With a wave at the departing cab, Laura entered the red bricked shop. Inside, she was greeted with the scent of coffee and freshly baked goods. Her stomach rumbled and she remembered that she hadn't had anything to eat since the sad little package of peanuts she had scarfed down on the flight into London. Moving towards the counter, she quickly ordered a large, plain black coffee and a sandwich from the kindly old lady behind the counter. Laura couldn't help but feel a tad bit amused at the sight of the old woman, who couldn't have been more than five foot tall bustling around behind the counter.

She decided on a table that sat next to the window, and pulled out her laptop and spread her files across the table. First, she checked her favorite media sites to check up on the news of the day, while simultaneously checking her email. She was so wrapped up in work that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the old woman put the plate and steaming hot cup of coffee in front of her.

Her heart still pounding a bit, Laura managed a smile. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome, dearie." The old woman studied her for a bit. "You must be Caroline's niece." At Laura's expression the woman continued. "Your aunt is a regular and told me that you were coming to town. We don't get many visitors."

"I've heard that before." Laura replied, laughing a bit awkwardly.

"Especially not young women. What with the legends that surround this place."

"The goblins and elves?" Laura said skeptically. "Do people really still believe those old stories?"

The woman picked up a broom that had been leaning against the wall, and started sweeping at the already spotless black and white tile floor.

"The older folks mostly, though even the the younger folk do subconsciously, I suppose. They don't let their daughters out alone at night if they can help it. There have been too many stories around this area for us to ignore."

Laura reflected on this for a moment. From the stories that her aunt had excitedly told her while she had conducted her research from her book, there was certainly something strange going on in the area. There was a pattern of disappearances of young women going back to when the history of this area had started to be recorded and perhaps even before that. But Laura didn't believe in fairy tales. She was sure that there had to be some sort of rational explanation for it. There was no doubt that these women had gone missing, but the stories that they had been taken by goblins or elves was insane.

Laura turned to back to her work, and immediately lost herself in it. Since childhood, she had always had a focused and disciplined personality. Whatever the task, from trivial to actual work, she always lost herself in it and worked until she had it done. That had been what had gotten her through undergraduate school, and certainly through law school. She had to confess that she didn't have much of a life throughout school. She rarely went out with her friends on the weekends, even though she had lived in one of the biggest cities in the world. She could be found scurrying around campus with her nose in a book or in the library with stacks of books and notes surrounding her.

But it had paid off. She had a job that she had always dreamed about, and if Senator Murray kept on the track he was on, she might even have a job in the White House one day. She loved the high intensity of her job, the running up and down the hallways in the senate whenever an important vote was up. She even loved the late nights, sitting with the other members of Murray's office, munching on take out, while they worked on a bill or attempted to work out the number of votes they needed in order to get it passed.

Of course, all these late nights hadn't really lent itself to a productive social life outside of her colleagues on the Hill. A dating life either. The last time she had had a long term boyfriend had been high school, and she couldn't even remember the last time she had been on a date. Not that finding a boyfriend was one of Laura's top priorities, but if she had to listen to her mother ask her yet again if she had a boyfriend or, God forbid, when exactly she was planning on getting married, she might go crazy. Marriage was certainly the last thing on Laura's to do list.

When Laura looked back up again, she saw that the sky outside was beginning to darken. Sighing, she began to gather her things. She pulled out her phone to call for a cab but found that her call went straight to the voicemail of the company. She said a silent little curse, surely they couldn't be shut down for the night now?

She walked up to the counter. "Is there any bus or anything running at this time of night?" She asked.

"I'm afraid not, dear." The woman said, gazing at her sympathetically.

She just barely kept her curse silent this time. The only thing she could do now was walk, it seemed. But gazing at the ever darkening sky made her a little bit nervous, no matter how she had scoffed at those folk tales now, she had couldn't help but be a little bit frightened of what might actually be out in the dark.

"Perhaps I might be of some assistance?"

Laura turned at the sound of the silky voice and laid eyes on the most handsome man that she had ever seen in her life. Along with his handsome appearance, there was also an air of absolute authority around him that made her feel very small. Laura regularly worked in rooms with powerful congressmen and women, and she'd even been involved in a meeting with the Secretary of State before, but never had she felt so intimidated her life.

"I am walking towards your destination now myself." He offered, stepping closer to her.

Laura stared at him for a second before found her words. "Oh-that's-you- don't-" she paused for a moment. "I mean, I'm alright."

Handsome or not, she wasn't stupid enough to accept the help of some stranger to walk her across town in the dark.

"Surely you do not want to walk by yourself at this time of night. I would not want you to not be safe."

"I'm sure I'll be okay," she said, smiling tightly.

She picked up her bag from the table, quickly beginning to jam her files into her bag. She froze as he put his hand on her arm gently.

"Come now, it can not be comforting for a woman to walk by herself at this time."

Laura couldn't help but feel a little ticked off now. "Well, this woman can handle herself."

She jerked back from his touch and stormed out of the door. She walked quickly down the sidewalk, clutching her bag closely and gazing up nervously at the sky.

"Wait!"

Laura kept walking but the man quickly caught up to her. She was only about 5'2'' and in heels so it was not very hard.

"I apologize. What I said back there came out wrong. I just didn't want you to feel unsafe walking back home alone." The man said.

Laura stopped walking and arched an eyebrow. "Well aren't you a white knight. Thanks but no thanks, I don't need your help."

He put a hand on her arm again and before Laura could knee him where it hurt or scream, she was caught in his gaze and found herself quite speechless again.

"Laura, I think that you want me to walk you home."

He smiled at her now. Laura could not have imagined that he could have looked any more handsomer, but his smile seemed to light up the night around them. She could do nothing else but nod slowly.

"Here," he said." Let me help you with your things."

Before she could protest, he grabbed the stack of books and files from her hands.

"Thanks," she murmured, brushing her hair behind her ear. They began walking down the street.

"You carry around a lot of books," the man commented.

"It all comes with the job," she replied.

"Job?" He inquired.

This time, she couldn't help but crack a smile at him. "Top secret,"

"American, I can tell." He said, flashing a smile at her again that made her knees weak. "What brings you here?"

She felt strange at how comfortable she suddenly felt with this stranger. All her fear and anger from before seemed to have evaporated. Something about his presence but her completely at ease.

"I'm house sitting for my aunt while she is on vacation." Laura stuffed her hands in her coat pocket, despite it being summer, she could feel a chill in the night air. "It just so happened that the break for my job lined up perfectly as well, so here I am."

"The secret one?" He teased.

Now completely at ease in his presence she said, "I'm a legislative and legal aid at the US Senate. I tell my boss what he should and shouldn't do, well advise him anyway." She laughed.

"Impressive for someone as young as yourself."

She shrugged her shoulders. While she loved her job, she didn't really like bragging about it. She knew she was talented at what she did, but the biggest reason she was hired was because she knew people who knew the right people. It hadn't been only her achievement.

She noticed that they were now in front of her aunt's house. She bit her lip, confused at how little time it had taken them to get there. Surely that couldn't be right...

"Well, Laura," the man said, flashing her another one of his dazzling smiles. "It was a pleasure."

She blushed. "Thanks,"

She watched him walk down the street, his tall frame disappearing into the darkness. It was only later when she was nearly asleep in bed that she realized that she had never told him her name or where she had been headed that night.


	3. Chapter 3

When Aganir entered camp again, he found a joyous energy in the air that he only now noticed had been strangely absent the past few months. The elves were sensitive creatures, and they had picked up on the depression that their lord had sunk into after his previous bride had been stolen away. Now that they sensed that their king was alight with joy again at this new prospective bride, they embraced his happiness completely. Aganir watched his elves dancing underneath the light of the moon to the sweet sounds of violins and flutes for several long moments.

Would Laura come to be as happy to view the sight before him as happily as he was now? As his mother eventually grew to love his people? From the stories he had heard from his father as well as what his father had written in the chronicles, he knew that getting his bride to settle down and be happy among her new people would be a hard fought battle. His own father had told him that it had taken his mother months to even speak to him. Aganir thought he might go crazy if Laura went so long without speaking to him.

He supposed that was what made him hesitant to steal her away so early. Perhaps if he could just give her a few more days, perhaps woo her and get her used to the idea of what was to come for her. The chronicles themselves had detailed stories of Elf Kings courting their future brides for many months before they stole her away. Aganir wished that he had this luxury himself, but he knew that if he left the girl in the daylight world for too long, the goblin king would snatch her up for himself.

"Aganir,"

He turned, spotting his chief advisor, Girzal, studying him disapprovingly. Girzal thought that Aganir should have just taken the girl as soon as he had found her to be a good match the night before. It was important to note that the chief advisor also thought that the Elf King should have taken a bride years ago, after his father had died. A regular elvish marriage that had been arranged years before so that the couple could grow to love each other was risky in itself. The king's marriage was even more dangerous as most of the time the bride was not very happy to suddenly be wife to her royal bridegroom. It took many years for the wives to settle into the kingdom and many more to become happy enough with their spouses so that an heir could be produced. Etu'an was nearing forty, when his magic would mature enough so that he could have a son. In Girzal's opinion, Aganir should have already been married for years. Of course, this was all very easy for him to say as he would not have to deal with a reluctant and terrified bride, Aganir thought.

"Have you received a reply yet?" He asked, referring to the message he had sent to the goblin king the night before, regarding his claim to Laura.

Girzal handed him the scrap of parchment. "You need to take her now," he said. "The goblins may have agreed to respect your claim but that does not mean they will leave the girl alone."

"You know that the goblins would not harm a woman, "Aganir countered, tucking the message into his belt.

"Perhaps not physically, but have you already forgotten what they did to the last girl who you wished to be your wife?"

Aganir stiffened. He did not like dwelling on the girl's horrible fate as a goblin's bride underneath the Hill. To be trapped underneath miles and miles of stone, away from the beauty of the stars and moon, and to be married to one of those horrible creatures as well! It was the worst sort of torture that he could ever imagine, especially because he had known that she had had a love of the stars and nature to rival any elf's.

"No," he began, carefully. "I have not forgotten. However, I also know that if I were to take Laura away now, she might never forgive me. My father brought my mother home the first night that he saw her and you know how long it took her to settle in."

"Need I remind you that your mother also grew to love your father and become one of the strongest and most loved wives in our history." Girzal replied. "What will a few more days do?"

"It might allow her to begin to accept the idea." he said. "There is something special about this girl, Girzal. She has an intelligence and spirit beyond her years and I believe that when she truly settles down into the kingdom she will give us a strong heir. I do not want her to lose it by taking her before she is ready."

"Sire," he began in a disappointed tone, but Aganir held up his hand. Girzal had been the Elf King's tutor since he was a boy, and Aganir sometimes thought that he forgot that he was not a child anymore

"I will hear no more on this advisor," he responded.

* * *

Laura woke the next morning to the familiar sound of her cell phone ringing. Not being a morning person at all, she sighed, snuggling back down into the warmth of the blankets. She had been having the most beautiful dream. A forest of towering trees cloaked in the darkness of a beautiful night, the full moon looming overhead and the stars twinkling brightly... She drifted back off to sleep, a small smile on her face. It seemed like she had only just closed her eyes, when her phone began to ring again. Deciding that the call might be important, she groaned and felt around on the bedside table, her hands finally closing around it.

"Hello?" She said groggily.

"Laura!" At the family sound of her aunt's voice, she became a little bit more alert. "I just wanted to check on you and make sure that everything is alright."

Yawning, Laura stretched her one of her arms high above her head. "Everything's... great."

"Are you sure?" Aunt Caroline replied, a hint of concern in her voice. "If something is wrong, I don't mind-"

"Everything's fine!" Laura interrupted, doing her best to sound normal. "I just woke up so I'm still halfway asleep."

"You haven't encountered any goblins have you?" Her aunt teased.

Despite the humor in her aunt's voice, Laura felt her blood run cold as she remembered the events of last night. That strange man who had somehow already knew her name and her home without asking. But goblins were supposed to be hideous or something, weren't they? This man had been so handsome so that it had been hard to think clearly when he had gazed at her fully, and when he had smiled! It had been the strangest feeling in the world, to feel so helpless underneath his intense gaze. It was a feeling that she had hated. Laura liked being in control of herself and her feelings completely and at all times. She hoped that she never ran into that man again. She did not like the way that he made her feel at all.

"No goblins," she replied, laughing nervously.

"Well, I only have a few minutes but I just wanted to check on you. Call me if you need anything!"

Laura bade her aunt goodbye and stared down at her phone in her lap as she hung up. There had certainly been something strange about the happenings of last night, though she would hesitant to assign anything supernatural to it. The guy was probably just some creep, she concluded. Still, she jumped out of bed and made sure that all the doors and windows were locked.


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days passed by relatively uneventfully. She watered the plants, checked the mail, all the mundane housekeeping tasks that her aunt had asked her to do. It had become so mundane so that she had almost pushed the memory of the strange man out of her mind. She might have forgotten him entirely but for one thing. Her nights seemed to be plagued increasingly by nightmares of dark, shadowy figures lurking in the woods, waiting for the right moment to snatch her away. One night, when she woke up from one of those horrible dreams, she could have sworn that the same kind of dark figure she had dreamed about stood in the corner of the bedroom. For several terrifying long moments, she fumbled for the switch on the lamp on the bedside table, knocking her cellphone and all her books onto the ground. When her trembling hands finally found the switch and the safe, precious yellow light of the lamp had flooded the room, she found that the figure was gone.

Laura felt safe in the daylight, but as soon as the sky outside began to darken, she could not help the nervous terror that began to fill her body. She knew that those feelings were not rational, and she tried to do her best to forget them, but she could not shake the horrible feeling that she was being watched. The feeling would strike her at random moments. She would be curled up on the couch under a warm blanket, with a book in one hand and a cup of hot tea in the other, and the hair on her neck would suddenly rise. She had turned on all the lights in the house and searched every closet and possible hiding place in the small house. As expected, there had been no one there. But no matter how many times she crept through the house, with a kitchen knife clutched in one hand, and threw open the doors to an empty closet, she never felt completely at ease.

So, it was after one of these search expeditions, that she finally decided to crawl into bed. The black, plastic alarm clock beside the bed proclaimed that it was already one o' clock in the morning. She was not really surprised. In the past few days, she had never fallen asleep before midnight. Though she had once thought that this trip was going to provide some relaxation and a much needed getaway, she now could not wait to be back in D.C. and into the familiar rhythm of her busy schedule. She curled up under the comforter of the bed, facing away from the door as she knew that it only served as a source of her anxiety. Suddenly, she felt sleepy, sleepier than she had ever felt in her life. Her eyes flutter closed.

The elf king crept into his bride's room as soon as he heard her quiet breathing begin to fall into a rhythm, meaning that his sleep spell had worked. Her face, which had been so bright and healthy when he had first laid eyes on her only a few short days ago, seemed more drawn. Perhaps Girzal was right, he thought. Was his hesitance to bring her to his kingdom harming her health? He sat down on the bed beside her, brushing her hair out of that pale and worried face. The girl sighed in her sleep, rolling over closer to him. He let out a sigh of his own, wishing that he could have her as his wife to fall asleep beside every morning, but knowing that it would take months, perhaps years, before she would willingly sleep so close to him. Sighing, the elf king whispered the words to the spell that would wake her from slumber. He watched as she began to stir, rubbing her hand over her eyes. She blinked sleepily, not seeming to have realized that he was there yet.

Laura stared at him for a few seconds utterly in shock, before she let a shrill little scream and scrambled out of bed. She faced him from the opposite side of the bed.

"What are you doing in here?" She demanded

The man laughed, a full and deep musical sound that made Laura falter for a moment. " I'm not going to harm you."

Laura turned and bolted for the door. Just as her hand was about to reach the doorknob, she heard the soft clicking sound of the lock sliding into place. _What the hell?_ She thought, frantically pulling on the knob. How could the door be locked? It could only be locked from the outside and it was impossible that this guy could have somehow pulled this off. _No,no,no,_ she kicked the door in frustration. She whipped back around.

"Please, I don't have any money." Her voice shook. "Please don't hurt me."

"Calm down, I am not going to harm you, my dear."

The man walked forward slowly, his hands in front of him. He was so handsome that it made it hard to think. She stepped backwards as he came closer, her back hitting the door.

"Please," she begged in a whisper, feeling herself begin to cry.

His expression changed, becoming almost tender. She was too shocked to do anything but freeze as he wrapped his muscular arms around her small frame. Her face was pressed against the soft fabric of his shirt and she felt a tear begin to fall down her cheek.

"I am sorry to have frightened you," he said. "But this was the only way."

"The only way to what?" Her voice cracked. She was afraid of the answer to her own question.

The man took her hand and began to guide her over towards the bed. Laura felt her heart race and she began trying to free her hand from his grip. She kicked and punched at him. She was not going to go down without a fight. To her terror, all her fighting didn't seem to even bother him anymore than a fly buzzing annoyingly around her would.

"Please, don't, no!" She sobbed.

The man let her go and she stumbled forward, falling onto the floor. Scrambling on her hands and knees, she quickly propped herself up again, her back against the bed. The man backed away, holding his hands in front of himself again.

"Laura, please calm down. I am not going to harm you."

After the man said this, it felt as though a wave of tranquility and peacefulness washed over her. She frowned at the strange sensation.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" She whispered.

The man sighed, running his hand through his curly, black hair. "I know that you know of the old tales that surround this area, but they are not merely fiction. My name is Aganir Etu'An. I am the Elf King."

She stared at him blankly. This guy was obviously insane or on something. For the first time, she noticed what he was wearing. He was dressed in a long, green tunic and pants, with soft brown boots that came to the knee. His curly black hair brushed the hood of the cloak that he wore around his shoulders, but most terrifyingly of all, she saw a knife with a stark, white blade, hanging from his belt. Was he going to kill her then? Or did he have something even more terrible planned for her?

Thinking it might better to play along with the man's delusions, she replied. "What do you want with me then… uh sir?"

The man grinned. "You do not have to refer to me so formally, my dear. I wouldn't expect my fiancee to call me anything but my given name."

"F-fiancee?" She sputtered.

"Every Elf King has to marry a human in order to have an heir. I have been picky, waiting for the perfect woman. So long so that my advisors have grown impatient. But I have watched you and I know that you will make the perfect bride."

Laura stared at him open mouthed. "What if I don't want to marry you?"

"Why would you not? The man replied. "You will live in my forest, the most beautiful place in the world. You will be loved by my people, and you will bear our son who we can raise to be the next great leader of his people."

She stared at him with a mixture of outrage and shock. "I've never heard anything more offensive in my life. I don't want to marry you and I certainly don't want to have _your_ children." She spat. "I don't even want to have children at all."

He gazed at her with what she was surprised to find was sympathy. "My kingdom is still weak. It would not survive for very long if my forefathers did not have to show some cruelty in taking their wives."

He strode forward towards her, and knelt down down beside her. Laura froze as he gently took both of her hands.

"But I will make it up to you. I will do everything in my power to make you happy."

She felt a tear roll down her face. "Please," she begged. "I have a career, a future. My family…"

His face set. "I am sorry, but I have already decided that you will be my wife. I shall give you three more days to settle your affairs. But now, you must rest. You have had a long night."

Before Laura could raise a protest, he touched her forehead. He picked the sleeping girl up and laid her gently back onto the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Laura knew three things to be true. First, she was being stalked by a crazy man who thought that he was the leader of a bunch of fairytale creatures. A small part of her believed him. How had he gotten into the house when all the doors and windows had been firmly shut and locked? She had checked as soon as she had gotten up that morning and nothing had been disturbed or broken. Second, this psycho wanted to spirit her away to force her into a marriage that she wanted no part in. Laura did not even want to get married in the next few years to someone she might meet and date, let alone this man who thought he had a right to control her and her body. She remembered with a sinking feeling in her stomach, he had said something about her bearing his son. Despite the blatant misogyny and general despicableness of it all, the very thought of being kidnapped for the purposes of bearing children made her sick to her stomach. And finally, she knew that she had to get away.

She hurried around the room, shoving her essentials into the small carry on bag. She could have her aunt ship the rest of her things later. She was safe while the sun was still out, she had concluded earlier. The man had only come to her during night time. She just had to be out of town by the time darkness fell. Hands shaking, she fumbled on the bedside table for her phone. When her hands finally closed around it, all that greeted her was a dark screen. This had to be wrong she frowned, she had had it plugged in all night. Frantically, she plugged it back into the wall. Nothing happened. Laura threw her phone across the room, and began pacing back and forth, running her hands through her hair. That man-hadn't he said his name was Aganir or something?-had to be behind this, she concluded. This only contributed to her theory that he was telling the truth about all the crazy magic stuff.

Never mind, she would get out of her if she had to walk all the way to London. Struggling with her bag down the stairs, she grabbed her purse from the entry way. With one final look around the house, she opened the front door. It felt as though she was running into a wall, she could walk no further. With a cry of frustration she threw down her bag. She put a hand up, and instead of her hand going through empty air, it felt as though she were resting her hand on a wall. If her thoughts from earlier about him telling the truth had still been uneasy, this sealed the deal.

Determined to figure out of this strange phenomenon was real, she grabbed a book and threw it out the open doorway. It landed with a thump on the sidewalk outside. Shaking her head, she once again attempted to walk through the doorway, but was once again thwarted by the seemingly invisible wall. She let out another frustrated cry, taking her anger out at the situation by slamming the heavy wooden door as hard as she could. She slid down the closed door, burying her face in her hand as tears began to run down her face. This could not be happening to her. She was normal. Painfully normal. Things like this didn't happen to normal people, who came from normal backgrounds, and worked normal nine to five jobs, and came home to their very normal apartment only to start their very normal life all over again in the morning. Things like this happened to the people in the shows she binge watched on Netflix or the books that she would read while curled up under a warm blanket with a glass of wine. In short, nothing extraordinary ever happened to someone like her.

Raising her face from her hands, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, gazing around at the stacks of books and papers that surrounded her, lined up neatly along the walls. Of course! Why had she not thought of it earlier? Her aunt had spent months researching the legends that surrounded the area. The stories of the goblins and elves who had spirited away young girls to take as brides in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. The very fruit of her aunt's labor surrounded her, and, she hoped maybe the secret to her way out. She climbed to her feet, dusting her jeans off, and marching towards the first stack of books with a certain amount of determination. She was not going to be led to this fate as a forced bride easily, she was going to use all the resources and fight that she had to get away. If this so called elf king though that he was getting a docile Stepford wife who would melt at his every word and command, he was very badly mistaken.

* * *

Later that evening, Laura found herself sitting among scattered books and papers. She chewed on the eraser of the pencil in her hand as her eyes tiredly scanned the page before her. In all her hours of research, she had yet to come across something useful for her situation. All the books that her aunt had collected for her research had all talked about the disappearances of the girls as if their had been nothing that could have been done to keep them safely at home. One of the novels had even detailed the story of one father fleeing the area with his other daughter when his first born had turned up missing. She simply did not understand how the area had been so complacent in letting their daughters be spirited away, one by one, over the years. It was the twenty first century, things were explained by science and reason now. How could the folktales of old still be scaring the local residents into acceptance that anywhere between two and even as much as ten of their girls would be taken away?

Why had the police or _somebody_ at all not gotten involved when eighteen year old, Hanna Wright, had gone missing just last year. The poor girl had gone out on her usual early morning jog and had never been seen again. According to the various photocopied and clipped out news articles that she had read, Hanna had been a bright girl who had been offered a full scholarship to attend college overseas in America. She had wanted to study medicine and become a doctor who traveled to impoverished and third world countries in order to provide much needed medical treatment.

Laura stared down at the grainy, black and white photo of the blonde girl, as she smiled brightly at the camera. Her graduation photo. She had been due to leave for college only two weeks after she had been abducted. It enraged Laura to think that all of the girl's potential, hopes, and dreams had been crushed all because she had been kidnapped by horrible creatures who only wanted to use her as a means to an end, that end being children. Laura wondered where Hanna was now, and whether or not she was still fighting against her imprisonment or whether she had eventually come to accept the utter hopelessness of her situation.

Frustrated, Laura threw the book in her hand across the room, hearing it hit the wall with a satisfying _thunk_.

"Studying something?"

The smooth voice of the elf king made every muscle in Laura's body tense. A look of pure and utter disgust fell upon her face, and as she turned to face him, she glared at him with the most frightening glare that she could muster.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, folding her arms across her chest. "You told me I had three more days."

She was surprised to find that her words and expression seemed to hurt him, as he flinched at her sharp tone, before seeming to gain control over his emotions.

"If we are to be married, the sooner that you get used to me the better." He replied, moving towards her. "Here, I have brought you something."

From his cloak, he pulled out a bouquet of flowers. They were unlike any flowers that Laura had ever seen before. They looked something lilies, the petals were silver colored and seemed to glow from a light that came from within. But Laura was not touched by the seemingly romantic gesture at all.

"What?" She let out a humorless laugh. "You think that you can bring me flowers and I'll somehow be okay with you forcing me into marrying you?"

"No," He replied. "But I thought that I might begin to convince you that my intentions are not evil. I do not want to marry you purely for practical purposes, Laura. I want to marry you because you are lively and beautiful and intelligent. I want a companion for a wife," he continued. "not some brainless woman."

Laura raised an eyebrow, still not believing him. "How progressive of you."

The elf king sighed, running a hand through his curly, black hair. Not for the first time, she was struck by just how handsome he was. He possessed the kind of beauty that even the male celebrities that were splashed across the covers of magazines and movie screens could never hope to achieve. He was effortlessly handsome. He did not have to try. He was just handsome and a part of her knew that it must have always been that way. But there was something a little bit terrifying about this beauty. Something not entirely real. Laura had the distinct feeling that she would never fully belong to the inhuman world that this man was from. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Laura rose from the floor, her limbs stiff from sitting awkwardly on the ground for so long. She shrugged off his helping hand, stretching her arms above her head.

"Well," She said after several long, silent moments had passed. "Now that you have stated your case you can leave."

She did not pass the hurt expression that colored his face for a brief moment. "Laura," he said quietly. "I know that you are not happy with the situation, but I promise that I will in my power to make you happy. There is nothing I want more than to see you smile."

"If you really wanted me to be happy," She retorted, stalking away from him and staring out the window. "You would let me go."

His face set. "You know that I cannot do that, Laura."

She whirled around to face him, angry tears burning her eyes. "You will do everything in your power, except the one thing that will make me happy!"

"My mother was just like you in the beginning," he said, coming over to stand by her. "All of the king's wives are. But she grew to be happy and she loved my father so much so that when he died, she died of grief not long afterwards. She grew to love my people and they loved and worshipped her in turn."

"I do not want to be your wife," Laura felt helpless. "I don't want to sit around all day until I eventually have a kid. I have a career that I have planned out since I was fifteen. If I did not give up it up for my high school sweetheart, I certainly won't give it up for _you_."

He grabbed both of her hands in his, almost pleading with her. "But you do not have to give it up! As my wife you can help to council me on the problems that I will have to face as king. You may study with the scholars whenever you wish. And someday, you can even help to advise our son."

Laura could not help but roll her eyes. If he thought that he could sway her by lying to her about what a future with him would hold, he was wrong. She would never be content to be his wife, her only purpose in life to bear his much wished for son. She was the sort of person who would never be completely content without the excitement and sense of accomplishment that her job gave her. She was never going to be happy with him, and she told him just that.

"I am never going to be happy with you," She tore her hands out of his grasp. "And I am never going to love you. I am going to resent you for what you are going to do to me for the rest of my life.

His expression became guarded again, and she had a feeling that he was fighting very hard to keep both his emotions and temper in check. "That is what they all say beginning, Laura. You might never grow to love me, but you will be happy."

* * *

 **A/N.** I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. I never knew that I would get so far on an idea that I had while rereading the series a couple of months ago. I am going to try to stick to this schedule of updating weekly as best as I can. If you have enjoyed this story so far, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Laura nervously ran her hands through her hair, pacing back and forth through the small entryway. A small part of her wondered whether her frantic pacing would wear a hole through the floral carpeting. She had slept so badly the night before, she was sure that she had only gotten a few hours at most. She had tossed and turned, glancing fearfully around the darkened room, as she was sure that the Elf King, or _somebody_ , was watching her. She'd been so paranoid of being watched, that she had changed into her pajamas in the windowless bathroom. If he had no qualms with forcing her into marriage, she was sure that he probably would not have too many problems with watching her change.

With a sigh, she plopped down onto the floor, burying her face into her hands. She felt as though she was going insane. Her aunt's house was not by any means small, but having been forcibly trapped in it for the past two days would make anyone go insane. There were only so many times that she could roam around the house without becoming bored to tears. She glanced at her watch on her wrist. Only a few more hours until nightfall. She did not know if she could stand another visit from her night time visitor. He infuriated her to no end, with the way that he seemed to assume that she should be falling all over herself to be thanking him for wanting to marry her. It was almost like he assumed that her accepting the situation was inevitable. She knew that she would never forgive what he was doing to her, let alone grow to _love_ him. The sooner that he realized that, the better. Maybe he would decide to move onto some other girl then, she thought optimistically, and then she could leave this all behind and reflect on it all as being nothing more than a bad dream.

Closing her eyes, she visualized her commute to work. The time spent on the subway, and the short walk to the Hill from there, usually typing away at an email on her phone in one hand and a steaming thermos of coffee in the other. Her first sight of the building never failed to fill her with awe and disbelief that _she_ worked there. She visualized her small, cramped office. The picture frames of herself and friends from college; the small, potted plant that she had been trying in vain to keep alive for months; the mountains of paperwork that greeted her every morning.

She thought about her little apartment. Sure, it was not the nicest apartment in the world, but it had been entirely hers. Her first home that she could call her own out of college. The furniture was a mishmash of things that she had been able to find for cheap and what she had been able to bring with her from her college apartment. The result was a mix and match effect that would not have made the front page of any magazine, but she had loved it and she couldn't stop a couple of tears from falling when she realized that there was a very good chance that she would never see it again.

It had been a couple of weeks since she had spoken to her parents. She wondered how they would react to the news when her aunt returned home and found her niece, and their daughter, missing. She knew that they loved her, they were her parents after all, but it had been years, perhaps not even since she was a teenager, that she had had a close relationship with them. Sure, they talked every few weeks, and she went home for the holidays once in awhile, but she had always been independent. The last time that she had seen her family in person had been when she had attended her older sister's wedding last spring.

That was yet another thing. It was likely, of course, that her family would not be in attendance at her wedding. She might not be the closest to them, but in all the thoughts that she had had of a wedding in her future, her family had always been there. Her mother and sisters would not be there to help her get ready for what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Her dad would not be there to walk her down the aisle to her groom.

Her groom, she thought with a roll of her eyes. A groom that she had not chosen herself. She had always imagined herself walking gracefully and happily towards the love of her life on her wedding day. Someone that she knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Someone that matched her drive of ambition in life, who wanted to travel and see the world. But that was not going to happen for her now. She knew that in the next fews days they were going to have to drag her kicking and screaming down the aisle.

Laura let out another sigh, rising to her feet, wincing as her muscles had grown stiff. What could she possibly do to occupy the rest of her time? Her laptop and the television did not work, neither did her phone. Another consequence of whatever magic was keeping her trapped in the house, she had guessed. She frowned. Only a few days ago, explaining something with magic would have been absolutely insane.

She moved to the kitchen, opening the various cabinets until she found what she was looking for. She pulled down a bottle of vodka along with a glass. If she was going to have to sit here and wait for him life some sort of prey, she might as well make it more bearable by being drunk.

* * *

Aganir found his wife to be slumped on a table, soundly asleep. A knocked over bottle of human spirits lay beside her, along with an empty glass. He sighed, perhaps he should take her away now. He did not want her to suffer anymore than she had too.

He touched her shoulder gently. "Laura,"

Laura blinked sleepily, already feeling a headache coming on. When she eyes focused on Aganir, she glared at him. "Get away from me."

The Elf King sighed again. "You are worrying me, my dear."

"You promised me three days," she slurred.

She attempted to rise from her seat but found that the world seemed to be spinning around her. To her anger, Aganir scooped her up in his arms. She was too sick at her stomach to do anything more than press her face into his chest and let him carry her up the stairs. When she became aware again, she felt him lay her down on the bed. Seeing this as a bad idea, she sat up.

He sat down beside her, and Laura felt the world spin again. She shut her eyes tightly and couldn't stop herself from falling against him. He wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair.

"I promise that you will be happy," he said. "I will do everything in my power to make you smile and laugh every night. Perhaps we might not come to love each other, but we can be happy."

Laura looked up at his words, finding herself mere inches from his face. She looked into his eyes, feeling as though she was being pulled into their depths. In them, she saw that his promise was true. She saw a future for a world of beauty and magic. A future in which this beautiful man would be at her side and love her. How could she, someone who was exceedingly normal, have caught the attention of such a man? These kind of things did not happen to people like her. Maybe none of this was real at all. Maybe it was all just a dream that she would eventually wake up from.

"You can't promise me something like that," She countered weakly.

Maybe things would be easier for her if she tried to be happy with him and accepted her situation, but a large part of her did not want to make things easier. She was a fighter, and she was not going to go quietly with him.

Aganir sighed, brushing her hair back from her face. "You will have to trust me, Laura, but I know that I will not gain that for a long time." He rose from his spot beside her. "I will see you again tomorrow night. I will arrive around the same time and take you to prepare for the ceremony."

Laura fell back against the bed as another wave of sickness hit her. "Wait," she called and he stopped in his tracks. "Can't you use your magic to make me feel better?"

He grinned at her. "I think I will leave you like this as a punishment so that you can think twice before doing this again."

She groaned but she noticed that despite his words, her headache and nausea disappeared.

* * *

 **A/N. So sorry for the long wait between updates! I was busy finishing up the end of the semester and finals, and did not have time to write. I hope to get a lot more done over Christmas break. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Laura woke the next morning with a feeling of dread. She went through her normal morning routine numbly, stepping into the shower and turned the handle so that scalding hot water poured down on her out of the shower head. She hoped that the steaming water might wake her up, whether from her numbness or from this horrible nightmare, she was not sure. She stood in the shower for nearly an hour before the steaming, hot water turned to ice. After she finally climbed out of the shower still shivering, she pulled on her favorite pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt. She lay down on the bed, her wet hair hanging over the side, fat, wet drops of water dripping onto the wooden floor. She stared up at the papered ceiling above her, her eyes tracing the chips and cracks in the delicate cream colored paper.

In less than twelve hours, Aganir would be back to spirit her away to be his wife. She would lose everything thing that she held dear in her life: her career, her friends, her life in D.C, her future. All of it would be taken away from her because the Elf King had decided that she was the woman that he was going to kidnap to bear his child. She shuddered a bit at this thought. _This_ was a portion of her predicament that she had chosen not to think too much about. Was he going to force himself on her if she did not warm up to him eventually? As kind as he might have been to her so far, she knew that there was no way that he was going to wait on her forever.

The worst thing about it was that she did not know what she could do to stop it. How could she possibly overpower a man who was so powerful so that she could not step one foot out of the house and block her phone from working, effectively cutting her off from the outside world and from anyone who could help. It was hopeless. Everything was hopeless.

At least he was kind, she thought, though she was not sure if that made everything worse. It would have been much easier to hate him if he was abusive and horrible to her, but so far, he had acted nothing less than a gentleman towards her. For one, he hadn't taken advantage of her last night when she had been so drunk she could barely walk straight. She felt her cheeks flush as she thought about last night. How embarrassing that the Elf King had seen her in such a state. Even though he had taken care of her and put her to bed, that also did not excuse the rest of his behavior. After all, what truly normal and sane person kidnapped a person against their will into marriage?

She thought about how she might contact her family, but how could she possibly explain what was going to happen to her? That she hadn't been murdered and her body dumped somewhere that would never be found. That she had actually been taken by some mythical creature to be his wife. As part of her job, she was skilled at using words to twist and shape a story in her favor, but she didn't even begin to know how she could put _this_ into words. _Oh no Mom_ , _don't worry. I just can't make it to Christmas this year, because my husband is busy ruling over his mythical kingdom._

Sitting up, she made her decision. She might be forced into this situation, but that didn't mean that she was going to let him dictate everything. Laura was going to set her own terms and play this situation to her advantage as best she could. She was going to be as dignified and stately as she could be when he came for her tonight, like a prisoner with their held head high going to their execution. She would play along with his little game, gain his trust, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself for her to get away, she would take it.

Jumping to her feet with a certain amount of finality, she dug through her suitcases. What did one wear when they were being taken against their will into a forced marriage of with the king of the elves? She sighed. She definitely hadn't thought to pack for this scenario. She finally decided on a simple pair of jeans paired with a light blue silky blouse. It would have to do.

Laura sat down heavily on the chair in front of the vanity table, dumping out the contents of her makeup bag. If the rest of the elves looked anything like the Elf King, she would have to do something about the huge, purple bags under her eyes. Her hands shook as she applied concealer under her eyes, and put a little bit of blush on her cheeks in order to bring some life to her pale face. She swiped a few coats of mascara through her eyelashes and a coat of her favorite pale pink lipstick onto her lips. Laura stared at her face in the mirror. Despite all her work, she could still see a pale, frightened young woman staring back at her.

She sighed, leaning back in the chair and covering her face in her hands. Summoning all her courage again, she rose from her seat, slipping her shoes on. She could do this. She would eventually find a way out, but she had to play along for now.

Leaning towards the mirror, she put on her favorite pair of pearl earrings that had been a sixteenth birthday gift from her mother. That has been a time when she had gotten along with her parents, when she had been the golden child, the shining example to her siblings about what a perfect child should be. She made good grades in school, she was a member of the cheer team, and she was friends with all the right people. From the outside looking in, her life would have seemed to be perfect. But she hadn't been happy. She hated her friends, who despite being the "right people",did not nothing but gossip about others. She hated being on the cheer team as well.

What she had loved was politics. She listened to the news everyday on her drive to school, read all the latest political blogs, and binge watched all the seasons of _The West Wing_ like any good political fanatic should. But she had to hide her passion from her friends, who would have made fun of her for being such a "nerd."

She had provoked quite a lot of confusion when she had told them of her plans to attend Georgetown and get her degree in Political Science senior year. They were confused as to why she wasn't going to go to the state university with the rest of them, and why she wouldn't want to follow her boyfriend of three years as well. But she had known the path her life would have taken if she had followed that road, and the very thought of it made her sad. So, she had forged her own path and proven everyone wrong. And, she had succeeded in building the life that she wanted and arranging the future that she wanted as well. But now, it was to be taken all away from her.

She buried her face in her hands again, doing her best to keep the tears from falling. She didn't want to smudge her makeup. She heard the window open and she straightened up.

"You're early," she said, smoothing the front of her dress.

She squared her shoulders, and turned around. She screamed.

* * *

A man, no creature, unlike anything she had ever seen before stood before her. He towered above her small frame, he had to be at least seven feet tall. In fact, Laura had to crane her neck upwards to even be able to look at him in the face. His eyes were large and entirely black, with no pupils at all. As he smirked at her scream, she noticed that his teeth were grey and pointed like fangs. His skin was gray and leathery, similar to an elephant's. Razor sharp, twisted claws tipped his fingers. He looked exactly like something out of a horror movie.

"Now, now," he said, his voice deep and rich. "Don't be frightened just because I do not look like your pretty little stargazer."

Laura let out another scream and darted for the doorway. The man was faster, however, and he blocked her path.

"Aganir!" She screamed.

The man laughed. "I'm afraid it is still much too bright outside for him to be of any help to you. I imagine the lazy elf is still fast asleep."

"What do you want from me?" She demanded.

"It's not anything that you can do," he sneered. "It's what the Elf King is willing to give me in exchange for you."

"He won't give you anything for me," her voice shook from her terror. "I'm not even his wife yet."

"Yes," he agreed. " But I realize that Aganir already cares greatly for you, and he won't lose another prospective bride to the goblin king."

"Another?" She asked in confusion.

"About a year ago, another pretty, little girl rather like yourself caught the Elf King's fancy. He was ready to take her to be his wife when I stole her instead and married her off to a member of my guard. He was so furious, you should have seen the look on his face!" The man chuckled.

Laura could not help but feel a little bit hurt. There was a small part of her that had thought that she had been special to a man as powerful and handsome as the Elf King. Some reason why he had chosen her out of anybody else in the world to be his wife. She should have known that the only reason that he had chosen her was so that she was just as good as any other woman to give him a child.

"What do I have to do with any of this?"

"I'm going to use you as a bargaining tool. You in exchange for an Elf bride."

Laura stared at him in disgust. "Do you two think of women as anything other than tools to be used for your own personal gain?"

"A charming argument, but you will not change my mind. You're coming with me."

Before Laura could protest, the man touched one of his hands to her forehead and all she saw was darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

"How could you let this happen!" Aganir yelled at the two guards before him, who were doing their best not to cower under their king's terrifying gaze.

The air around the king crackled with a dangerous energy. This part of camp was deserted save for himself, the guards, and Girzal. The skittish and sensitive elves, who rarely ever saw their leader or any elf at all in a foul mood, had fled the area. That strange sort of magic that separated Aganir and his elves, never failed to frighten and unsettle. He seemed to have grown taller, his dark eyes seemed to burn with a mysterious energy, and an aura of unspeakable power surrounded the king. Only Girzal, who had been around Aganir since he was a boy and had grown as used to this strange energy as one could, did not shrink away from the Elf King.

"The goblin king knocked both of us out. Our magic is not strong enough to-"

"I do not care. All that matters now is that another poor girl has been dragged into the goblin caves. A girl who was to be the mother of _your_ future king." Aganir stormed.

"Aganir," Girzal began, carefully. "It is Marak that you should be angry with. He has broken his promise to leave the girl alone."

"He was being tricky again." Aganir said. "He said in the letter that "I would have a wife." But of course he did not say the girl by name." Aganir let out a long string of curses under his breath. "I should have seen this coming."

"We had no reason to believe that the Goblin King would go against his promise." Girzal responded. "You should not blame yourself for-"

Aganir cut him off. "How can I not blame myself? Yet another poor girl has been dragged underneath the Earth to the goblin caves and I have done nothing to prevent it!"

The thought of Laura, with her beautiful, bright blue eyes, trapped in the goblin caves for the rest of her life, was enough to make his stomach turn. To be trapped in those horrible, airless caves, without the moon or the stars was a torture that he would not inflict on his worst enemy. And now, the woman that he had chosen to be his wife, that he should have been performing the King's Wife ceremony on right now, was facing that very fate. He had not wanted to believe it when the nervous guard had come running to inform him of the news. Everything had already been prepared. The lilies for the ceremony had already been laid out in preparation, in fact, the delicate, white flowers, still lay out neatly in their straight lines. Now, he was not sure that he would ever get to use them to make Laura his wife, and he was surprised by how intensely this thought hurt him. Aganir could not bear to look at them any longer.

"Aganir!"

The Elf King looked up to see one of the pages frantically running towards him.

"The goblin king left this note for you."

Aganir grabbed the note. His eyes ran across the page quickly as Girzal dismissed the page and both the guards. He had a feeling that later, Aganir would regret letting his subjects see him so angry later. Though the king had been saddened since he had lost his last prospective bride to the goblins the year before, it was rare for the Elf King to ever have such a display of anger in front of his subjects. This only provided more evidence to Girzal as to just how much his king had cared for this girl. Aganir let out a groan, rubbing his hand on his forehead.

"He requests a meeting in the truce circle to create the terms for Laura to be returned to us. No doubt he will want a bride from us." He cursed again.

Girzal regarded him carefully, "We cannot allow the goblin king to order us around like this."

Aganir sat down on the fallen log heavily, burying his face in his hands. How had he come to care for this girl in so short of a time? So much so that the thought of not marrying her made his heart hurt.

"I cannot just hand him one of my people like this. I cannot condemn a young girl to to such a horrible fate." Aganir said.

Aganir thought for several moments. He couldn't bear to see her married off to a goblin, or worst, Marak himself. He knew that he could not condemn one of his subjects to a life under the caves, but he also knew that he could not live with himself to see yet another girl forced to live under the earth because of the goblin king's enjoyment of teasing his brother king.

"This is what we will do," he said, finally. "We shall go and listen to what the Goblin King has to say, and then we shall make a decision."

"You cannot seriously be considering the idea of entertaining his demands?" Girzal replied. While he had been pleased that his king had finally decided on his choice of bride, he could not condone bowing to the goblin king's demands.

"We shall see what Marak has to say," Aganir repeated. "Though you know that I will not hand over one of my people so readily."

Girzal looked at his king carefully. "What are you going to do about the human girl?"

The Elf King remained silent for many moments, staring up at the stars above as though they might provide him with some answer. "I will do all that I can do to bring her back safely to us. My magic has told me, Girzal. She is the one who is to be the mother of my son."

* * *

When Laura woke up, she found herself in one of the most gaudy rooms that she had ever seen. It was almost too lavish to be real, as it looked like something more out of a movie than anything that she had ever seen in real life. The room was large and spacious, with walls that were covered in swirling patterns and mosaics of brightly colored squares of stones, dotted here and there with great diamonds, sapphires, and stones that she had never seen before. Silk sheets and pillows that seemed to be impossibly soft covered the great bed that was laying on, in various shades and hues of blue to match the walls. All of the furniture in the room seemed to be made, or at least trimmed with, gold and marble, along with the white marble floor which had been polished so that Laura could almost see her reflection in it. Despite the great beauty of the room, Laura buried her face in the covers.

In less than a week, her entire life had been turned upside down. Last week, she had been an entirely normal person, sitting at her desk in her small cramped office, and now, she was caught in the middle of a squabble between two mythical creatures. She wished that she had never accepted her aunt's invitation and that she had never boarded that plane to England. If only she had stayed in D.C. things would have never turned out this way, and she could have continued her normal, boring life.

The door creaked open, and Laura sat up, seeing the figure of the man who had kidnapped her the night before.

"Good, you're finally awake,"

She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I should introduce myself properly," he said despite her silence. "I am Marak Tigerclaw."

Laura noticed that he did indeed have huge claws protruding from his hands. She shuddered. She had never seen something so horrible in her life.

"I am the goblin king," he continued, placing his arms behind his back and beginning to pace a neat line beside the bed. "Though I suppose you have already inferred that. You are much too intelligent for that elf. So was the last one."

He paused in his pacing to study her intently. "You work for a human government. You have studied political science, economics, and the legal system in depth, so much so that as young as you are they value your thoughts. Tell me, why in the world would you want to live with the elves in their drippy forests where they care for nothing more than music and dance?"

"I don't," she snapped. "I don't want to be a part of either of your plans."

"You seemed content enough, last night." Marak retorted."Why, you had even dressed yourself for the wedding, though I can tell you that the elves would have immediately dressed you in their clothes."

Laura stayed silent, watching the man pace back and forth, prowling like some sort of predator.

He turned around to face her, "I think," he said, studying her intensely. "If Aganir does not give me an Elf bride as I shall soon demand of him, I shall marry you instead."

"No!" Laura stared at him in horror. "I am not some sort of pawn to be tossed back and forth between the two of you. And I certainly do not want to marry you or any other fairytale creature that might decide to show up!"

"Your fate was sealed whenever Aganir placed his claim on you. You can never go back to the human world. You will either be here with me, or in the forest with the Elf King."

"If I were you," he continued. "I should prefer here. This is the only place that your intelligence will be valued."

Laura rose from the bed, stalking over to the far side of the room, as far away as she could get from him. "I don't think you understand me. I do not want to marry either of you."

Marak's face set. "The sooner you come to terms with the inevitable, the sooner you will be happier."


	9. Chapter 9

Laura stared up at the swirling mosaic of brightly colored tiles on the ceiling above her. It was the only source of entertainment that she had to occupy her time. She'd been trapped here in this room for what felt like an eternity, but in reality could have only been a couple of days at the most. She alternated her time between pacing around her small, gilded prison or sleeping so that the time would pass more quickly.

The only time that the oppressive silence and loneliness of the room was broken was when her meals were brought to her three times a day. The first time that the woman had entered her room, Laura had nearly screamed in fright. The woman's body was covered in bright blue feathers, and her hands were covered in pale yellow scales and tipped my three inch long talons. The women's clothing of a pale pink silky blouse and grey dress pants, something that Laura herself might have worn to work, only added to the surrealness of the sight. Frozen by fear, she had stayed stock still from her spot behind a striped chaise lounge until the woman had left, with a small, reassuring smile aimed towards Laura before she closed the door behind her.

A small part of her wondered whether or not Aganir had been bothered by her abduction by the goblins, or whether he had already started to look for a replacement. After all, the only thing that he had needed from her had been a child, and any woman could give him that. She wasn't stupid. She knew that he could not possibly give up one of his own people in exchange for her. At least, not if he was being smart about the whole situation. To give into the Goblin King's demands would make him look weak, especially when there were countless other women that he could chose as a bride instead.

Yes, that was the practical view of the situation, but it didn't make Laura any less terrified of what her future held. Was she going to be left down here in the goblin caves? The thought of marrying Aganir against her will had been horrifying and terrible enough, but the thought of marrying this new, Goblin King was enough to make her sick to her stomach. She shuddered, remembering his horrible appearance. He looked like some sort of demon-like creature from a horror movie. She could not imagine having to look at something so terrible every morning for the rest of her life.

How in less than a week had she gone from a normal twenty three year old to a bargaining chip between two mythical creatures? She was going to go crazy if she stayed cooped up in this room for any longer, she concluded, sitting up on the bed. The thought of not knowing her fate was driving her insane. She had to get out of here. She crept over to the door, pressing her ear against the polished wood. Silence. She put her hand on the cold metal of the doorknob, finding to her shock that it turned easily. The door clicked open softly, and she pushed it open enough so that she could peek around. Had the goblin king really left her in an unlocked room with no guard? Surely this couldn't be right…

Still, she wasn't going to not take advantage of this strange gift of luck, so she slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. The dim hallway that she stood in now was made of almost entirely of gold, but she didn't allow herself to gaze in wonder at it for too long. When she reached the end of the hallway, she let out a little shriek of terror. Standing guard at the end of the hallway were two goblins dressed in black suits, looking much like a kind of twisted Secret Service. She backed away slowly, but they merely stared at her. One who had a head that looked like some sort of bird, clacked his beak as though it were speaking in some sort of gutteral language to the other. But they both stayed still.

Laura did not need anymore convincing. She turned and sprinted down the opposite corridor, running as fast as she could. She ignored the burning in her lungs and legs, focusing only on getting as far away as she could. She stopped short as she entered a corridor that was filled with goblins. Eyes wide, she felt her heart begin to beat wildly, she backed away slowly. She felt her back hit something solid, and she let out a yelp as she whirled around and saw that what, or _who_ , she had run into.

The creature towered at least three more feet above her, and its skin was covered entirely in shiny, green scales. Narrow, yellow eyes regarded her with some surprise. She turned to run the other way but found that she was surrounded by the horrible, deformed creatures. She looked around frantically, trying to find some means of escape. Nothing. Feeling sick and terrified, she sank to the ground, covering her face with her hands.

This is it, she thought. This is how Laura Winters goes out.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Laura could not help but look up in surprise. The voice sounded so unnatural from everything else. It was soft and caring, not like the other loud, harsh voices that filled the air. Instead of a horrifying creature, her eyes landed on a girl, not much younger than herself, with a heart shaped face with beautiful blonde, curly hair, and bright blue eyes. Laura recognized that face. Even though she had only seen it in a blurry, black and white photocopied picture, she would recognize it anywhere. Hanna Wright.

"You're-you're-you're- her!" Laura managed to stutter out.

Hanna smiled softly at her. "Why don't you come with me to my apartments? I know it can be so overwhelming here in the beginning."

Laura did not hear much of else of what she said until they had reached Hanna's apartments. The sound of the door clicking behind them seemed to jolt her out of her state of shock. At once, she was struck with just how normal the room before her was. While it was true that the living room before her looked like something out of magazine or home design show, it was distinctly _normal_.

Couches and chairs of varying shades of grey were scattered across the cream-colored carpeted floor, with various blankets and throw pillows of different shades of blue arranged artfully on them. Laura sank down onto one of those comfortable couches, glancing around and studying the room further. Coffee and end tables made from dark wood contrasted perfectly with the rest of the room, completing the 'homey' yet expensive feel of the entire room. Walking into a room that was so recognizable and normal, yet knowing that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures out of her nightmares walking around beyond the closed door was an almost surreal experience.

Laura was further startled to see photographs hanging in expensive golden frames throughout the room. In one of them, Hanna had been caught in mid laugh, smiling up at a creature covered in short, brown hair, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Hanna caught her staring. "Goblins do not usually take pictures, but I insisted. I told him that since I hadn't gotten any wedding pictures that we had to." She laughed.

Laura stared at her, beyond confused. The girl was acting as though she had forgotten that she had been forced into marriage and something as silly as forgetting to book a photographer had prevented her from getting pictures of her wedding.

"Laura?"

Laura turned at her name, seeing that Hanna must have been talking to her. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm still not feeling well…"

The blonde gave her an understanding look. "It was the same for me when I first got here. I hardly ever left these rooms, but you get used to it."

"Used to it?" Laura was beginning to regain her senses again.

Hanna fiddled with the gold and silver bangles that hung around her delicate wrist. "Well, I have been here for over a year now, so I have had some time to grow accustomed to their… appearances. It's funny, I don't think I even really notice how unusual they are anymore."

Laura studied the girl before her. She was dressed in a nice silk blouse the color of her eyes, a pair of dark skinny jeans, and wedges. Countless costly necklaces and bracelets hung around her throat and wrists, and a pair of diamond drop earrings glinted in the dim light. But more importantly, Hanna's face was not pale or even unhappy. She did not look nervous or frightened at all. In short, Hanna looked nothing like what Laura had expected a kidnapped bride to be.

"But don't you want to go back home?" Laura asked, confused.

Hanna gave her another small smile. "Well, at first that is all I wanted, and I suppose sometimes even now I am a little home sick. Mainly I miss my family and my pets, but I am happy here now."

Laura stared at her. "Happy?"

"It was hard for all of us at first-"

"Us?"

Hanna gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, there are other human brides here too. I am the youngest by far, but Marak's mother is still alive and there are a few others as well. I can't tell you how much they helped me when I first got here."

Laura wondered at all these women who had been forced into their own marriages, keeping each other company and providing comfort to each other. All these poor women that had been given this same, horrible fate, trying to normalize what was happening to them so that they could get through their everyday lives. She had never heard of something so sad and depressing in her life.

"You mean, you're happy here and you don't want to go home?" Laura still could not understand how calm Hanna was about everything.

"This is my home now." Hanna responded.

Laura stared at her, astounded. Would she be just like Hanna in a year, brainwashed and believing that she was okay, and even happy, with what was happening to her? She could not imagine that she would ever accept what was going to happen to her at all, but she was sure that just a year ago Hanna probably did not believe that she would be happy here either.

"Look," Hanna continued. "I know that I sound crazy, but this is really how I feel. As strange as it seems, I'm happy here and I'm happy with my husband."

Before Laura could even begin to think of a response, the door opened and Marak himself strode through the doorway. Laura stiffened once she caught sight of him. In contrast, Hanna smiled brightly at him and rose to greet him.

"Thank you for looking after, Laura, after she decided to take a run about the palace."

Laura simply glared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. Speechlessly, she started to follow him out of the room.

"It was nice to meet you, Laura." Hanna said.

Laura could not help but soften a bit at Hanna's voice. "It was nice to meet you too, Thank you."

Laura followed Marak down the hallway. She was relieved to find that the corridors that they walked down were all deserted. Marak's appearance was frightening enough in the dim light that she didn't know how she could possibly handle another group of goblins surrounding her. After a couple of minutes had passed, she couldn't help but break the silence.

"You can't expect me to stay holed up in that room forever."

"I never said that you had to stay there."

She stopped in her tracks to stare at him. He chuckled in response.

"Contrary to what you might believe, you are not a prisoner here."

"But I thought..." She hurried up to catch up with his long strides.

"You're either going to be my wife or the Elf King's wife. It is in my best interest to treat you well."

Laura could not help but be a bit shocked by the bluntness of his statement. "Well, in that case, I don't want to stay in that room all the time anymore."

"Would you rather stay in mine?"

Laura's face flushed scarlet. "That's not what I meant!"

He let out a great laugh. "I'm only teasing, for now at least." He said, raising his eyebrows at her. "Though, perhaps I can give you a tour of my kingdom so that you will stop trying to escape."


	10. Chapter 10

Laura stared up at the ceiling above her. Well, she could not really call it a ceiling at all if she was trying to do it justice, though she wasn't sure that she could possibly describe the scene before her in words. When she had thought that she had been dragged down into the goblin caves, this was not at all what she had imagined. She had imagined dirty, suffocatingly tiny caves cloaked in complete darkness. She had not expected any of this at all.

The great cavern that they were in stretched dizzyingly high up above them. She was surprised to find that the top of the cavern was not made of stone or earth; instead, it looked as though she was looking up through tons of murky, dark greenish-blue water. She gaped up at it in wonder, unable to keep her mouth from falling open.

Marak chuckled at her reaction. "We're under the lake."

Laura stared at him now. "How is that even possible?"

"Magic of course," He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "There are spells that have been around since goblins first moved into this area that keep the water from spilling down into the valley."

Laura still was not used to the idea that magic was real and now very much a part of her everyday life. Then again, she doubted that she ever would become completely used to the idea. Down below, the lights of many little towns twinkled merrily. She watched as the tiny figures bustled about, going about their daily lives as though a sky filled with water was completely normal.

"I still can't believe that any of this is real," she said, shaking her head.

"It can be an adjustment," Marak allowed. "It took my mother months to even begin to believe that magic was real."

"So your mother had a hard time settling in as well?"

He nodded. "That would be a bit of an understatement, I'm afraid. It took her nearly half a year to even speak to my father." He added, "You seem to be ahead of her already."

Laura instantly felt her mood sour. "There's no guarantee that I'm going to be _your_ wife."

"Perhaps not," He said, shrugging his shoulders.

Laura started to argue, but bit her lip to stop from speaking. Marak had been nice enough towards her, but she knew better than to test someone who apparently had more power in his little finger than was even imaginable. Besides, she had long since decided that she needed to play along with whatever game she was being drawn into. These two oh-so-great kings might have decided that she was their pawn to fight over, but that did't mean that she had to be a damsel in distress in this story. There was no way that she was going to let them decide her fate without some intervention from herself.

"I have more to show you," he said, after several minutes had passed. "If I haven't offended you too much."

Laura couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, but she followed after him anyways. It seemed that her luck from earlier had run out. Every corridor that they walked down was filled with goblins, but this time, they all respectful stepped to the side to let their leader pass. While she was relieved that she was not being crowded around this time like some sort of spectacle, the sight of some of them was enough to almost send her sprinting in the other direction. It was only her determination not to look like a coward in front of Marak that kept her walking forward, one shaking foot in front of the other. While she had hoped that he would not notice her fear, the Goblin King did indeed notice and thought her all the more admirable for it. Most other women would have already screamed or fainted. Perhaps the Elf King had finally made an intelligent decision.

"Are we almost there yet..." Laura trailed off as she nearly bumped into Marak.

She looked around at the room that they had entered in wonder, though she thought that she was eventually going to have to get used to the strange, magical beauty of the Goblin kingdom. The great, circular chamber that they stood in now had shelves that stretched up to the high ceiling, filled with thousands and thousands of books. They stood on what appeared to be the second level of the room, a platform which hugged the sides of the room, with an opening cut out in the middle so that one could look down onto the lower level. A simple glance above confirmed that multiple other platforms such as this were above them as well.

She looked down at the goblins down below. Some of them studied at the various desks, nearly hidden behind towering stacks of thick books. Others rushed around, their arms filled with mountains of papers and books. The scene below would have almost been normal had it not been for the use of magic to float down the needed texts to someone's waiting hands. Those who apparently could not be bothered to carry their things, instead used magic, neat stacks of their books and papers following along behind them.

"I thought that you might enjoy seeing this part of my kingdom."

Laura did not want to admit how correct that he was. Maybe it had been her years of undergraduate and then graduate school that had kept her cooped up for hours in the library, but she had always felt more at home there than most places. She turned to study the titles of the books around them, walking slowly around the circle, her finger brushing their brightly colored and embossed spines. The majority of them were titled with strange, foreign characters, but she was surprised to find that their were a few books written in English mixed in as well.

"I have never seen so many books in my life," She finally said.

"This room houses most of them, though there are others elsewhere." Marak replied. "Not only do we keep goblin texts, we also keep those from elves and humans as well."

"What use would goblins have for human books?"

Marak shrugged, "Not much at all. Amusement mostly. Though every Goblin King learns a bit of human history and the other children learn some as well."

"Why would you need to learn that?"'

"Mostly, it is so that we have a basic understanding of what is going on in the human world. We may be secluded down below, but it is important to know what has happened and is going to happen in the world above."

He added, "And, of course it has the added benefit of being better able to relate to human wives."

Laura frowning, decided to ignore his comment. She was saved from having to make any reply at all, at the arrival of goblin guard with a message from Marak. She studied the bookshelf in front of her while the Goblin King spoke with the messenger a fair bit away. She had the feeling that whatever message was being delivered was not one that he wanted her to hear.

He returned to her side a few minutes later, apparently sensing her curiosity.

"The Elf King has agreed to meet with me."

Laura, who was surprised that he would allow her to know this information at all, felt her heart begin to beat a million miles an hour and nervous butterflies to flutter around her stomach. Trying to mentally calm herself, she replied.

"Oh,"

Simple. Unworried. She tried to make it seem as though the thought of a meeting between the two magical kings did not bother her in the slightest.

The Goblin King eyed her suspiciously. "It seems as though you will know the fate of who shall be your husband shortly."

Laura tensed at his words. "If I had my choice, neither of you would be." She couldn't help but reply miserably.

He shrugged, as though forcing a woman into marriage did not bother him. "But you do not. Neither of our races would survive if we waited around for a woman to choose."

This time, she could not hold her tongue.

"I'm not a prize to be fought over between the two of you. I'm not an object."

Marak didn't react with anger as she thought he was going to. Instead, he merely looked at her steadily. "While I understand your anger, the sooner that you come to terms, the better. If anything you should be grateful that you have caught the eye of both kings."

Laura stared at him speechless. Her face grew hot from anger. She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure that a great king such as you has a lot to do. Try not to have too much fun deciding my fate later."

She turned and stalked out of the room.


	11. Chapter 11

The Elf King stood in the shadows of the Truce Circle, his arms crossed over his chest, with an expression of barely concealed fury on his handsome face. Even though dusk had long since fallen, what light remained stung his eyes which were accustomed to the night. He still had half an hour before the Goblin King was due to arrive, but he had decided to arrive as early as he possibly so that he could have his anger in check whenever he finally came face to face with Marak. In fact, it had taken nearly ten minutes for the magic of the circle to allow him to enter. The powerful magic that had been weaved by both his and the Goblin King's ancestors centuries ago did not allow anyone to enter the circle who might use magic to harm anyone else who entered. It had taken all of those ten minutes for Aganir to stop thinking of the many spells at his disposal that could be used to wipe the no doubt smug expression Marak would have on his face once he finally arrived.

His two lieutenants stood at his side, the hoods of their green cloaks pulled low over their faces to shield them from the bright light. He did his best to ignore the disapproving look on Girzal's face. The chief advisor had used many arguments against even meeting with the Goblin King, let alone even listening to any of the demands that he was sure to have in exchange for the human girl, but Aganir had not listened to any of them. Enlil, the Elf King's military commander, had also attempted to reason with the king about this meeting. No good would come of it, both of the lieutenants had concluded, but nothing they said could convince Aganir to give up. No, the Elf King had been determined to meet with the Goblin King, if for nothing else but to knock some sense into him.

Aganir heard the Goblin King's arrival before he ever saw him. Goblins are as noisy as humans, he concluded with a sneer. Marak entered the circle, the hood of his dark cloak obscuring his face, with both of his lieutenants at his side as well. The Elf King clenched his fists, stepping out into the light.

"Aganir,"

"Marak,"

The tension in the circle could have been cut with a knife. Each of the lieutenants eyed their respective king nervously, as though they might be set off at any moment.

"I do not think that we need to waste time with pleasantries." The Elf King finally said after the two kings had glared at each other for several long moments.

"I suppose you want to know what I want in exchange for the girl?" Marak replied, smiling smugly at him.

"I have my suspicious of what you will want," He responded. "And you already know what my answer will be."

The Goblin King stared at him with a small amount of surprise. Perhaps he had overestimated his rival's feelings toward the human. "Yes, but perhaps we can come to an agreement."

"I won't give you one of my people to drag underneath the Earth into your horrible caves."

"So you're just going to give up Laura without any fight?"

Aganir could not help but flinch at the mention of her name. "If you had any sense of honor at all you would return her to me. You know that she was meant to be _my wife_. The elves are supposed to have precedence-"

"It is not my fault that you failed to properly guard your bride." Marak countered. "We have not had an elf bride for two generations now. There is no treaty between us which means that there is nothing keeping me from raiding your borders and taking as many brides as I wish."

The Elf King's eyes blazed with fury. "You could not get past our borders if you tried."

"We will see," Marak smirked. "Now, you can look forward to raids to begin to start within the week, or you can at least hear my terms."

Aganir remained silent, so he continued.

"I will return Laura to you in exchange for an elf bride. In return, I shall order that no other raids for brides will be sanctioned for the entirety of my reign."

Aganir hesitated. No other brides to be taken for the rest of Marak Tigerclaw's reign? Even he had to admit that the deal worked out more in his favor than the Goblin King's. Still, he knew that he could never consider allowing one of his people to be dragged down into those caves to be a goblin's bride. How could he even go about choosing which poor girl to be given this fate worse than death?

"Of course, if you do not agree to these terms," Marak continued as Aganir remained silent. "I will also take Laura as my own wife."

The Goblin King was lucky that the truce circle prevented the use of magic, for his brother king was finding it very hard to find a good reason not to blast him into oblivion. Aganir clenched his fist at the thought of the woman who was to be his own wife in the arms of his enemy, sentenced to the fate of bringing one of this horrible, monstrous creatures into the world.

"I will not hand one of my people over to you," The Elf King stated finally. "However, should one of them agree to be the Goblin King's Bride, then I would consent to your terms for the exchange."

The Elf King's lieutenants stared at their king in shock. What sane elven maiden would willingly pledge themselves to be a goblin bride?

"And," he continued. "You will agree that no elf brides at all will be taken for the entirety of your reign, taken through raids or not."

The Goblin King laughed. "It seems that you are learning, brother."

Aganir scowled at him.

"And am I supposed to wait around forever for some girl to decide that she will marry the Goblin King?" Marak said, crossing his arms over her chest. "I will give you until the end of the week."

Aganir scoffed. "How can you make these demands when it is _me_ who is sending one of my people into your airless hole."

"Until the end of the week." The Goblin King repeated. "If you have not produced a bride for me by then, I will consider our agreement to be null and void."

* * *

A stormy silence hung in the air for most of the walk back to camp. The Elf King moodily considered the situation that he was now placed in. To allow one of his people to be sentenced to a fate worse than death was unthinkable. As the king, it was his duty to protect his people, so how could he possibly resign himself to send one of the elf maidens down into the goblin caves even if she had consented to such a fate?

"Aganir," Girzal began. "Should I send the message out to the camps upon our return?"

The Elf King sighed, running a hand over his face and through his black curls. "How can we even begin to explain this, Girzal?"

The elvish advisor studied his king warily, attempting to gauge his mood. "It is a slim probability that any maiden would willingly agree to become a goblin bride," he acknowledged. "But even I have to admit that a reign without raids is a very valuable trade from the Goblin King."

They had reached camp now, and the Elf King paused to look at his elves dancing joyfully in the meadow, with no knowledge of the horrible news that he had to tell them. A part of him wanted to leave the news for tomorrow night, to not spoil the excited, joyous energy of the night, but he knew that that would be the coward's way out. It would only confirm what his enemy believed of him. No, he would have to break the news tonight. It was his only hope of ensuring a peace for the entirety of his reign. And, there was the small part of him that could admit that he wanted Laura back, safely in his camp and as his wife.

"Gather the camp. I shall make the announcement myself. It is only right." Aganir finally said, after several long moments had passed. He stared up at the stars as though they might provide him with some wisdom, but for once, they seemed not to speak to him all.


End file.
